In reply to your letter of July 2003 to the Minister of Internal Affairs, we inform you that after the inspection performed by Economy Police Section at Regional Police Department, Varna, it has been ascertained the following:
1. The foreign patients subject to dialysis in St. Marina Hospital, Varna, are registered in a register book which is kept in the head nurse’s office. For each procedure a dialysis sheet of the patient is filled in signed by the doctor, technologist and nurse on duty. The health files of the foreign citizens undergone dialysis are kept in the clinic. By the moment of the inspection copies of them were kept for office usage in the Occupational Medicine Department of the hospital.
2. According with art. 7 from the Medical Establishments Act "A medical establishment cannot deny medical aid to persons who have appeared in it in a condition which threatens their lives regardless of their place of living." For the patients with chronic kidney insufficiency, hemodialysis appears an urgent and life saving procedure that is why even without contracts and regardless of them, St. Marina Hospital is obliged and cannot deny medical aid to foreign patients. The service of the patients on dialysis is provided with priority by the hospital, including when there is shortage of the state delivery. The dialyzing of the foreign citizens was performed in accordance with a contract comprising the final sum for the medical service whereby the expenses for supplies and medicines are a component of the total value of the performed hemodialysis.
3. 12 citizens of Israel underwent one dialysis procedure on 27-May-2003 by the force of a contract concluded.
4. When foreign patients are admitted in the hemodialysis unit of St Marina Hospital, they are required to present documents of their health condition and results from serologic tests fro hepatitis B, C and AIDS. Copies of the documents and the results from the tests are kept in the health files of the patients.
On performing the inspection by Economy Police Section of Regional Police Department of Varna no data of a general crime performed have been ascertained.
Varna, 11-Sep-2003
CHIEF: [signature illegible]
[seal of RDIA, Varna]
